Marguerite & Craig "Finish The Job" at their Massey College Wedding
M&C’s wedding handout said something interesting…
'I don't think we should ever get married. Our relationship should be a choice we make everyday.'
'That's a beautiful thought. I totally agree.'
Then over time, and with the grace of a little space, we realized that we had married each other a little more every day.
So we decided to finish the job.
And finish the job they did! This wedding was specifically for family and “a few friends who are like family” so to say it was intimate, intentional, and everything they wanted, is an understatement. Massey College is a University of Toronto campus so being an actual residence they booked out the courtyard for their ceremony- with a small chapel as a weather back up-, the lounge area for their cocktail hour and reception, and library for their dinner! All of this too had to be wrapped up by midnight because there are dorms in the facility with you know, students sleeping and studying. This wasn’t a problem for Marguerite and Craig though, being an older couple meant having older family who “don’t party as hard as they used to” so everything really worked out in their favour.
Before we left for our summer vacation I did a site visit with M+C to walk around the space and talk through their plans. It goes without saying that the space is quite beautiful but being a visual person I do much better seeing things in front of me, rather than having them explained (“planters will go here, chairs will roughly look like this and go there” etc.). Seeing the space without the decor and already being impressed with everything made me feel intrigued and that much more excited for their big day and when it finally rolled around, it did not disappoint!
When I arrived on the afternoon of, Marguerite and Craig were getting things organized inside, delegating and coordinating with the small team of college staff and family members, while also themselves trying to get ready. They had seen each other a few times before I arrived but when they finally got themselves outside to start shooting that was the first time all day they had really been together, and they had to take a moment *insert tears here*
Being natural light photographers means that being outside is one of our favourite places to shoot and truly, madly, deeply, this wedding ceremony could not have light any more perfect than what we got! Their ceremony was the most important part of their wedding, so much so they actually asked for me to not take a lot of photos; they wanted to be able to fully take everything in and for their guests to enjoy the experience without the nuance of someone running around or even the sound of a camera shutter going off every few moments.
See more photos below, click the photos to enlarge and browse through
Marguerite & Craig led their guests inside following their ceremony
And their cocktail hour was filled with nothing short of love and congratulations! One of the big perks of having a smaller, more intimate, wedding is being able to interact with your guests one-on-one, without being rushed, so they took this opportunity to do just that and when they were ready, everyone was seated for dinner. Having dinner in the library certainly feels like the most unique part of this wedding and it is certainly my favourite! The colourful books and interesting atmosphere made everything so fun! We don’t often shoot during dinner- generally just speeches if those are happening between courses- but Marguerite & Craig were so happy with their table arrangements and everyone meshing well together that they asked for a few photos of everyone interacting.
When the time finally came to dance- the second moment, other than the wedding ceremony itself, that everyone was waiting for- Marguerite & Craig wanted to get right to it. They didn’t want to have a first dance, or a mother/daughter or mother/son dance, they just wanted to party! With a little convincing from their guests though they did it, on the condition that “everyone else join in too”. A wonderful thing happened as they began to dance, everyone simply stood back and watched for a moment before guests were not so subtly told to jump in. From there the rest of the evening was such a breeze and filled with so much love and dancing!
